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After losing the game of dice with the Kauravas, the Pandavas were proscribed from their kingdom and sent on an exile into the forest for twelve years and another year in which they were supposed to stay in disguise. Despite losing everything they had, Pandavas managed to complete their twelve long years of exile in the jungle by the grace of the gods. During their last year of exile, they had to live in disguise; this is called “Agnyatha Vasa”. During this year, the Pandavas disguised themselves and live in the court of King Virata of Matsya kingdom. Yudhishthira disguised himself as a devout Brahmin with the name, Kanka Bhatta, Bhima joined in the royal kitchen as a servant in the name of Valala, Arjuna, a Dance teacher to the princesses as Brihannala, Nakula and Sahadeva joined the horse stables.
Draupadhi, a common wife to all the Pandavas, daughter of Drupadha, went to the Queen Sudeshna and asked her to take her as a personal servant. She told the queen she is Malini, the wife to five Gandhara, the divine musicians. Hence all the Pandavas stayed together in disguise and very careful not to let anyone know that they were related.
Keechaka was the brother of Queen Sudeshna. He was a great warrior and as strong as any of the Pandavas. He was also the commander of the army of King Virata. He was also known for his desires for women. Keechaka was out conquering lands and kingdoms when the Pandavas arrived and took shelter in King Virata’s court. When he returned, he saw Malini, who was in reality Draupadhi. Her intriguing beauty was irresistible and he instantaneously felt the lust for her. He continually gave her lascivious gazes whenever he visited his sister, the Queen. During one such visit he even forcefully embraced her and kissed her. Malini ran from his vicinity as fast as she could. Draupadhi, who had already been through one such event was crestfallen and was no longer able to bear it.
Long ago, when Yudhishthira lost the game of dice number of times, he lost his kingdom, his assets, herds and everything he had. Duryodhana then demanded Yudhishthira to bet on his brothers. Yudhishthira being the most loyal and honest king, which gave him the title “Dharmaraja” (Lord Dharma), could not reject a challenge. Hence he bet on his brothers and himself and again lost the game. The evil and gall Duryodhana did not stop at this either. He demanded for the Pandavas’ wife, Draupadhi to be placed for the bet next. And as expected Yudhishthira could not deny and thus lost the game once again. Duryodhana sent Dusshasana, his brother to get Draupadhi. Dusshasana pulled Draupadhi and brought her to the court room and started stripping her saree off. But the divine Lord Krishna showed up and saved Draupadhi by making her saree everlasting.
Keechaka went to his sister and told her about his desire for Draupadhi and asked her to send Malini with him to serve him thereon. Sudeshna commanded Malini to go serve her dear brother. Draupadhi was terrified as she wasn’t sure Lord Krishna will come to save her again but she couldn’t reject her Queen’s orders and thus went to Keechaka. Malini attended Keechaka’s needs, did his bed, served him meals and was not bothered for a few days. But it was only temporary. Keechaka again started to embrace her by force and treat her ruthlessly. Malini got away every time with immense efforts. But once it so happened, Keechaka did not give up. He chased Malini like a drunken animal. Malini ran away from his room and yet he followed her. They ended up entering the court room where Kanka Bhatta (Yudhishthira), Valala (Bhima) and King Virata were present. Keechaka went away seeing them there.
Bheema was filled with a glut of anger and wanted rip Keechaka into pieces. But Yudhishthira stopped him saying the time wasn’t right as killing Keechaka would reveal their identity. The Pandavas had to spend a few more months to complete their exile and Yudhishthira being an honest person did not want to break the oath of the exile. Yudhishthira was fighting himself on the inside. He was in a fix. Draupadi was much more infuriated at both 
Yudhishthira and Bheema, but she knew Yudhishthira wouldn’t break his loyalty to Dharma so she went to Bheema and bashed him for being ignorant of the incident that just happened. But Bheema was not ignorant, he had to be tolerant as he did not want to go against his brother’s orders.
Bheema consoled Draupadhi saying he was stopped by his brother and requested her to bear Keechaka for a few more days. But Malini resisted. She censured Bheema’s suggestion and told him he is the only one who she trusts so she wants him to help her. Bheema agreed to kill Keechaka when Draupadhi mawkishly blamed herself for being the cause of Pandavas’ troubles. Bheema then advised Malini to bring Keechaka to the dancing hall the next day and he would take care of the rest.
Not more than a few months were left for Pandavas to end their suffering and Yudishthira thought they will make it without any difficulty. But little did he know what was coming. Malini went to Keechaka as usual to serve him his meal and Keechaka pulled her vehemently again. But something was absurd this time. Malini did not fight. Keechaka was amused and by the time he could recover Mailini playfully ran away from him. Keechaka went chasing Malini around the Palace. They reached the Dancing Hall. Keechaka was stunned when he saw a stranger standing in the hall waiting for him. It was Valala, who was supposed be in the kitchen.
Then suddenly, Bheema jumped upon Keechaka, beating him with all his strength. For Bheema, it was always easy to take on a single warrior as he was the strongest of all Pandavas and was even feared by Duryodhana; which is why he cheated the Pandavas in the game of dice, because he knew Kauravas could not defeat Pandavas with Bheema against them. But Keechaka was no less. He was a brave and skilled warrior. He fought back fiercely. The duel battled brutally for hours in the dancing hall but Keechaka finally gave up and was ripped into pieces by the mighty Bheema.
Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas along with Draupadhi fled from the kingdom of Matsya after Bheema murdered Keechaka, the chief commander of the Matsya army. They went on to spend their last days of exile in the small village of Ekachakranagara.
